Pasting machines for storage battery plate grids

ABSTRACT

A machine for pasting storage battery plate grid castings is of the type including opposed walls forming a passage for grid castings, means for advancing castings through the passage, a reservoir for paste, and at least one roller for feeding paste from the reservoir through an aperture in one of the walls of the passage to each casting as it passes through the passage. The opposed walls of the passage are formed by a pair of masking plates each having in it one or more apertures into which portions of the roller project and they are held by resilient means in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness. The resilient means is arranged to yield to allow the walls to part slightly thereby allowing the passage of castings of greater thickness.

United States Patent [191 Gibson et a1.

[ Feb. 18, 1975 1 1 PASTING MACHINES FOR STORAGE BATTERY PLATE GRIDS [751 lnventors: Ronald Matley Gibson, Bolton;

, Robin Gordon, Stockport, both of England [73] Assignee: Electric Power Storage Limited,

Manchester, Lancashire, England 122] Filed: June 13, 1973 1211 Appl. No.: 369,582

2,672,835 3/1954 Paul 118/244 Primary Examiner-Ronald lcldhaum Attorner. :igrlll, or Hrm\\'atson. (Tole. Urimllc & Watson [57] ABSTRACT A machine for pasting storage battery plate grid cast ings is of the type including opposed walls forming a passage for grid castings, means for advancing castings through the passage, a reservoir for paste, and at least one roller for feeding paste from the reservoir through an aperture in one of the walls of the passage to each casting as it passes through the passage. The opposed walls of the passage are formed by a pair of masking plates each having in it one or more apertures into which portions of the roller project and they are held by resilient means in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness. The resilient means is arranged to yield to allow the walls to part slightly thereby allowing the passage of castings of greater thickness.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBWISTS SHEET 1 UF 4 FIG.

PATEHTED FEB 1 81975 3,866 569 SHEET 2 OF 4 This invention relates to pasting machines for storage battery plate grid castings, of the type including opposed walls forming a passage for grid castings, means for advancing castings through the passage, a reservoir for paste, and means including at least one roller for feeding paste from the reservoir through an aperture in one of the the wallsto each casting as it passes through the passage.

According to the present invention the pasting machine includes resilient means holding the walls in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness, the resilient means being arranged to yield to allow the walls to part slightly to allow the passage of castings of greater thickness.

Grid castings vary in thickness, depending on a number of factors, and are also subject to lead splashes, flash, distortion and buckle. in conventional arrangements the castings are treated by a sizing process before pasting to remove excess thickness and to flatten them, in order to prevent jamming of castings in the pasting machine if their overall thickness is greater than the standard predetermined amount. By means of the present invention it will generally be possible to eliminate this sizing process since the machine is designed to accept over-thick or distorted castings without jamming.

The opposed walls of the passage for castings are preferably formed by a pair of masking plates each having in it one or more apertures into which portions of a roller project, each plate being formed integrally from a single piece of metal. Forming each masking plate integrally reduces the danger of the edge of an aperture being distorted by the paste so as to protrude into the passage and foul a casting.

Each roller may project into the apertures so that the plane of the inner face of the wall is tangential to it.

Preferably the reservoir for paste contains a film roller projecting into the aperture in the adjacent masking plate, a feed roller spaced from the film roller, a doctor bar projecting into the space between the feed roller and the film roller and having a leading edge spaced by a small clearance from the feed roller so as to skim a layer of paste from the latter and direct it into the space between the film roller and the opposed face of the doctor bar, and, at the downstream end of this face of the doctor bar, an adjusting flap of tapered section pivoted about an axis near its upstream edge so as to bring its thin edge towards or away from the film roller and thereby adjust the thickness of a layer of paste carried by the film roller into the aperture in the adjacent masking plate.

The invention may be put into practice in various ways, but one specific embodiment will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the main parts ofa pasting machine for storage battery plate grid castings;

FIG. 2 is a similar sectional view showing how the housings are mounted on the base;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view corresponding to part of FIG. 1 indicating the manner in which the paste is applied to the plates; and

FlG. 4 is a plan view of the upper masking plate indicating diagrammatically its relationship to a casting being pasted.

Broadly speaking the general principle of operation of the'machine is similar to that of known machines, for example as described in British Pat. No. 624,963 or 818,838, although in those prior specifications the grid castings travel vertically downwards whereas in the present arrangement they travel horizontally.

Thus the machine comprises a base 10 comprising a pair of horizontal girders supporting a lower housing 20 and an upper housing 30. The base of the upper housing 30 has in it an upper masking plate 55 forming the upper wall of a pasting passage 57. The top of the lower housing 20 is formed by a lower masking plate 56 which forms the lower wall of the pasting passage.

The castings are fed through the pasting passage from left to right as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3, in a plane indicated by the arrow A.

At its upstream end the lower housing 20 carries trunnions 21 received in bearings 22 on the base. Towards its downstream end the lower housing is supported by spring units 23, described in greater detail below.

At its downstream end the upper housing 30 carries trunnions 31 received by bearings 32 in micrometer adjusting pillars 33 by which the height of its downstream end can be adjusted. At its upstream end it rests on and is locked to micrometer adjusting; stops 35 which can be released to allow the whole of the upper housing to be pivoted about the trunnions 31 to expose the masking plates. A crank 37 and ram (not shown) are provided for turningthe upper housing in this way.

The important parts of the machine will now be described in rather more detail.

As shown in chain lines in FIG. 4 each grid casting 63, when fed through the pasting machine, provides two grids, one for each of two battery plates, and is cast in siamese-twin-form with what will be feet 64 at the bottoms of the plates integral with one another, and the two terminal lugs 65 and 66 projecting in opposite directions from opposite ends of the casting. The castings are passed through the machine in a horizontal plane, the leading edge being the one 67 which will be the vertical edges of the plates adjacent the lugs.

It is desirable to keep the sides 68 and 69 and middles 70 and 71 of the casting, i.e. the upper and lower edges of the plates, free of paste. lf paste were allowed in the area bounded by the inner frame members and the feet this would be wasteful and would prove to be an embarrassment in later processes when the material is dislodged. The outer sides 68 and 69, which will be the tops of the plates, carry the lugs 65 and 66 which will eventually be lead-burned to a connecting strap.

Accordingly the castings are fed through the pasting passage 57 having opposed walls afforded by the masking plates 55 and 56. Each of the latter has in it two apertures, the paste being applied, through the apertures of the upper plate 55. The apertures 58 and 59 of the upper masking plate 55 are, as shown in FIG. 4, of the elongated form of a length slightly less than the height of the reticulated area of the grids, so as to mask those portions of the casting which will ultimately form the tops and bottoms of the plates. Some paste smears on the leading and trailing frame edges, which will form the sides of the plates, are of no consequence.

As mentioned above the upper wall of the pasting passage 57 is formed by the upper masking plate 55 which is the base of the upper housing comprising a hopper 40. A film roller 41 projects into the apertures 58 and 59 so that the lower ground face of the upper masking plate lies in a plane tangential to the film roller 41. The masking of the middle portion of the casting is achieved by providing a thick finger 60 between the apertures which fits in a circumferential groove (not shown) cut in the film roller 41. Similarly the ends of the roller are of reduced diameter to provide edge masking.

Mounted in the hopper 40 are a pair of L-section agitators 43 and 44 to stir the paste, and a paste feed roller 45 situated above and slightly forward of the film roller 41 and separated from it by a small gap 46, A doctor bar 47 of generally concave triangular section projects into the gap 46 between these two rollers and has a leading edge spaced by only a few thousandths of an inch from the paste feed roller 45 so as to skim a layer of paste from the latter and direct it into the space between the film roller 41 and the opposed face of the doctor bar 47 which is approximately co-axial with it. At the trailing end of this face the doctor bar 47 carries an adjusting flap 48 of roughly tear-drop section pivotted about the centre line of its bulbous edge so as to bring its thin edge towards or away from the film roller 41 and thereby adjust the thickness of a layer of paste carried by the film roller down into the aperture in the masking plate.

Accordingly the L-section agitators 43 and 44 tend to agitate the paste and feed it towards the gap 46 between the paste feed roller 45 and the film roller 41. The doctor bar 47 scrapes the paste from the paste feed roller 45 and causes it to travel round with the film roller 41 in a layer of which the thickness can be adjusted by means of the flap 48, and the film roller 41 carries the film of paste down through the apertures 58 and 59 in the upper masking plate 55 and squeezes it into the grid beneath.

The lower masking plate 56 is similar to the upper masking plate and forms, as mentioned above, the upper wall of the lower housing containing a recirculating roller similar to and mounted parallel to and beneath the film roller 41, and projecting up into the apertures in the lower masking plate 56 so that the ground upper face of the latter is tangential to it.

The recirculating roller 25 serves to engage paste squeezed completely through the grid and press it back into the grid so as to produce opposite plane surfaces.

The apertures in the upper and lower masking plates are shaped to receive the film roller and recirculating roller respectively, with slight clearance on the downstream side, and the paste passages upstream of the roller. The plane surfaces of the masking plates, downstream of the rollers, serve to smooth the pasted surfaces of the casting, and also to control the thickness of the finished plate.

The upper housing is, as mentioned above, mounted on the base 10 of the machine with the aid of the micrometer adjusting stops and the micrometer adjusting pillars 33 enabling the distance between the opposed faces of the masking plates 55 and 56 to be varied to suit grids of different thicknesses.

In accordance with the present invention the lower housing 20 is supported by means of a pivot at a point some distance upstream of the leading ends of the masking plates; its downstream end is supported, as mentioned above, by means ofspring loaded plunger units 23. Thus on each side an inverted T-section bracket. 27 projects and rests on the head of a stud 73 guided in a screw-threaded boss 74 screwed into a sleeve 75 welded to the base 10. Belleville washer springs 76, the number and arrangement of which can be varied, are interposed between the head of the stud 73 and the boss 74 to urge the stud upwards, such movement being limited by a washer 77 held by a nut 78 against a shoulder at the lower end of the stud 73. Shims (not shown) may be interposed between the head of the boss and the lower end of the sleeve to adjust the normal position of the lower housing and ensure that the roller axes are parallel.

Accordingly if a casting of more than the standard overall thickness is fed through the pasting passage, the springs 76 can yield and allow the whole of the lower housing 20 to pivot slightly downwards so as to increase the space between the masking plates 55 and 56 by a few thousandths of an inch and allow the casting to pass through without jamming.

Various means may be provided for feeding the grids to the pasting passage. In a specific machine each casting is carried by a twin-track chain conveyor (not shown) hanging by the lugs from the two chains, and is brought to a horizontal plane by being drawn over a ramp. The casting is then gripped between a driven roller and rubber discs (not shown) on a free running spindle above it. These advance it beneath a free running roller (not shown) which flattens the casting and prevents it from bouncing. It then moves between a further pair of driving rollers 81 and 82 which drive it through the pasting passage 57.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the details of the embodiment specifically described. Thus the lower housing, instead of being pivotted at one end and spring loaded at the other, may be sprung at both ends or in the middle, and constrained by guides or a suitable linkage to move vertically without tilting. Instead of the whole lower housing being movable, the lower masking plate, with or without the back-up roller, may be made movable in a fixed housing, or relatively to the machine frame. Alternatively the lower housing may be fixed and the upper housing or hopper may be movable.

Instead of relying on metallic springs it is possible to employ resilient means of rubber or other elastomers, or compressed air or hydraulic pressure.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A pasting machine for storage battery plate grid castings, comprising opposed walls forming a passage for said grid castings, said opposed walls are formed by a pair of masking plates each having at least one aperture therein, each said masking plate being formed integrally from a single piece of metal, means for advancing castings through said passage, a reservoir for paste, means including at least one first roller for feeding paste from said reservoir through an aperture in one of said walls to each casting as it passes through said passage, said first roller having portions thereof extending into at least one aperture of at least one of said masking plates, a second roller mounted opposite said first roller for recirculating said paste to the grid casting within said passage and having a portion thereof extending into at least one aperture of the other of said masking plates, resilient means holding said walls in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness, and said resilient means being arranged to yield thereby enabling said walls to part slightly to allow the passage of castings of greater thickness.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said first roller projects into said at least one aperture so that the plane of the inner face of the masking plate adjacent said first roller is tangential to the surface of said first roller.

3. A pasting machine for storage battery plate grid castings comprising:

opposed walls forming a passage for grid castings,

means for advancing castings through said passage,

resilient means holding said opposed walls in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness, said resilient means being arranged to yield thereby enabling said walls to part slightly to allow the passage of castings of greater thickness,

a reservoir for retaining paste,

feeding means for feeding paste from said reservoir through an aperture in one of said walls to each casting as it passes through said passage, said feeding means including;

a film roller mounted in said reservoir and projecting into said aperture,

a feed roller spaced from said film roller,

a doctor bar projecting into the space between said feed roller and said film roller and having a leading edge spaced from said feed roller and a face opposing said film roller to skim a layer of paste from said feed roller and direct said layer into the space between said film roller and the opposed face of said doctor bar, and

an adjusting flap mounted at the downstream end of the opposing face of said doctor bar and having a tapered section pivoted about an axis near its thicker upstream edge so as to bring its thin edge towards or away from said film roller and thereby adjust the thickness of a layer of paste carried by said film roller into the aperture in the adjacent wall.

4. A pasting machine as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a second film roller mounted opposite said film roller for recirculating said paste to the grid casting within said passage and having a portion thereof extending into an aperture in the other of said opposed UNITED STATES PATENT O FFICE 7 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,866,569 r Dated February '1 Inventor s) Ronald Marley Gibson and Robin Gordon It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown b elow:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Date June 14, 1972 Great Britain No. 27s'24/72' Signed and sealed this 20th day of May. 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. "[ARSHALL DANN RUTH'C. MASON v Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks 

1. A pasting machine for storage battery plate grid castings, comprising opposed walls forming a passage for said grid castings, said opposed walls are formed by a pair of masking plates each having at least one aperture therein, each said masking plate being formed integrally from a single piece of metal, means for advancing castings through said passage, a reservoir for paste, means including at least one first roller for feeding paste from said reservoir through an aperture in one of said walls to each casting as it passes through said passage, said first roller having portions thereof extending into at least one aperture of at least one of said masking plates, a second roller mounted opposite said first roller for recirculating said paste to the grid casting within said passage and having a portion thereof extending into at least one aperture of the other of said masking plates, resilient means holding said walls in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness, and said resilient means being arranged to yield thereby enabling said walls to part slightly to allow the passage of castings of greater thickness.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said first roller projects into said at least one aperture so that the plane of the inner face of the masking plate adjacent said first roller is tangential to the surface of said first roller.
 3. A pasting machine for storage battery plate grid castings comprising: opposed walls forming a passage for grid castings, means for advancing castings through said passage, resilient means holding said opposed walls in a normal relative position corresponding to castings of a predetermined thickness, said resilient means being arranged to yield thereby enabling said walls to part slightly to allow the passage of castings of greater thickness, a reservoir for retaining paste, feeding meanS for feeding paste from said reservoir through an aperture in one of said walls to each casting as it passes through said passage, said feeding means including; a film roller mounted in said reservoir and projecting into said aperture, a feed roller spaced from said film roller, a doctor bar projecting into the space between said feed roller and said film roller and having a leading edge spaced from said feed roller and a face opposing said film roller to skim a layer of paste from said feed roller and direct said layer into the space between said film roller and the opposed face of said doctor bar, and an adjusting flap mounted at the downstream end of the opposing face of said doctor bar and having a tapered section pivoted about an axis near its thicker upstream edge so as to bring its thin edge towards or away from said film roller and thereby adjust the thickness of a layer of paste carried by said film roller into the aperture in the adjacent wall.
 4. A pasting machine as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a second film roller mounted opposite said film roller for recirculating said paste to the grid casting within said passage and having a portion thereof extending into an aperture in the other of said opposed walls. 